Road Junky Bliss List – Travel Favourites

The Road Junky Bliss List is an updated and ongoing collection of all the cool things to do, see and experience in the world. A foil to our misanthropic Shit List.

In honour of duality and a schizophrenic world view that alternates between footloose glee and cynical misanthropy, Road Junky runs the travel Bliss List as a counter to our ever-popular Road Junky Shit List.

Travelers are welcome to send in their nuggets of favourite destinations, trips or travel info and experiences to inspire others to hit the road.

13. Receiving Letters Abroad

Once upon a time, in the old days of travel, there was no such thing as email. We know – take a deep breath. In those days ttravelers used to receive hand-written letters from those who cared about them enough to walk down the street to the post office. These letters were read, reread and cherished on altars travelers placed in their rooms. And you know what, the postal service still exists…

12. Swimming with Dolphins

Are dolphins really a superior species in league with white mice or are they just in it for the fish? Beats us but we do know that there are few experiences quite as memorable as swimming with dolphins. Try off the coast of Brazil from the village of Pipa, organised trips in New Zealand or around the Bahamas.

11. Muslim Hospitality

‘The guest is the face of God’ said Muhammed and accordingly there are few more welcoming places to travel in the world than in Muslim counties. Sure, you’ll get hassled in Morocco and Egypt but find yourself in trouble and you can turn to almost anyone for help. Pots of tea, shared meals and invitations to come and stay, it’s near impossible for a traveler to go hungry in a Muslim country.

There’s nothing like falling in love on the road with someone who lives on the other side of the world from you. Every moment seems more intense as you go through new experiences together and explore the inner recesses of your heart with surreal and shifting travel backdrops.

Tel Aviv is a crazy mix of first and third world and the Carmel Market (Shook haCarmel) is the place to see all the Israeli chutzpah in action. With the stallholders filling the air with shouts and laughter and arguments, this is humanity at its most raw and authentic.

7. Punting in Cambridge in English Summertime

For many, an English summer is an oxymoron in itself but when the sun does shine, there are few more delightful things to do than to take a punt up the river from Cambridge to Grantchester. Fill the boat with a picnic and a loved one and then make love in the fields by the river in the long summer evenings.

6. The Tali – South Indian Food

Every traveler in South India knows the tali, a plate with rice, dal, chapattis, curd and a bunch of vegetable curries. It costs about 15 rupees (25 cents) and as you’re eating the cooks come around to fill your plate even more. Cheap, healthy and sometimes so spicy as to ensure a miserable morning toilet experience.

5. Samba Circles in Brazil

Brazilians seem to be born with rhythm in their bodies and it comes out when they gather around a guitarist and someone playing the triangle on the street to sing old samba songs. Everyone can dance and keep time with the off-beat rhythms and a crowd often forms around a little bar with plastic chairs on the street.

Amsterdam rightly made Road Junky’s cool cities list and the chief pleasure in Holland’s infamous city is to stroll about along the canals and gaze into the reflections of the tal, narrow houses floating in the water. It’s a village that pretends to be a city and as you cross the endless bridges you hear every accent on earth.

2. Train Rides in India

Only by jumping on a train in India can you get the feeling of the size and depth of the country, the seemingly empty countryside that’s somehow home to hundreds of millions, kids taking their morning shit by the train tracks and little old men pushing barrels of hot, sweet tea up and down the train corridors, yelling: “Chai, Chai, Chai…”

1. Sinai

Sinai is Israel’s hippie back garden though everyone is grateful it’s in the hands of Egypt and so development goes slowly and the ambience of the red sea and desert mountains is maintained. Kick back in the huts and hang out on the carpets playing backgammon, getting stoned and hitting on cute Israelis.